Free Stuff, Oh How I Heart Thee… (Disney On Ice!)

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If you all haven’t been keeping up with the “$5 Dinners” blog, you should. Go there. Right now.

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Great blog, eh?

Erin is a real-life friend of mine, the first kindred spirit I befriended after moving to Ohio two years ago. I like to say that I knew her “back in the day…” The day before she became famous, anyway. *wink*

Because her blog? $5 Dinners? The blog she started on a whim to help motivate with her family’s budget? It sort of took off. Ahem. Which may be the understatement of the year, to say the least. She’s even publishing a cookbook! I’m so excited for her I could spit. I love living vicariously. “Don’t forget us little people, Erin!” (She’s probably tired of me saying that by now…)What a few couple several thousand people who read $5 Dinnersdon’t realize is that Erin also keeps a personal blog, “Our Little Chatterboxes” …Lucky for me, because she posted a giveaway on that blog for a family pack of tickets to see “Disney on Ice”, and I won! Woo-hoo!

The show quite simply rocked. Since our 14yo had a soccer game, I just took our two youngest. At six and four, Olivia and Peter were the perfect age for some Disney Magic.

Here they are hanging out next to the Arena in Cincinnati before the show. (No sense going in too early to sit and wait!)I saw lots of little girls in princess outfits, and I kind of kicked myself because it didn’t occur to me to have Olivia dress up all special. She didn’t say anything, though. (And for her that’s saying something.)

I had been more concerned that we might get cold, this being a skating rink and all. But we were completely fine inside without an extra layer — luckily, because I dropped Olivia’s jacket outside in a puddle while I was waiting for our (free!) tickets. Whoops.

The armbands they’re wearing had our seat numbers on them: in case the kids get lost, someone would know where they belonged. Isn’t that a great idea?

At least it was until we moved to be closer to Erin and her family. Here she is with her boys…

…Wait, what’s this?

Oh, looky there — another boy! She’s due in just a couple months. Doesn’t she look great?

It was all good, though — with the armbands, that is. Once the show started, the kids were glued to their seats and completely awestruck. It really was incredibly awesome.

Toward the end of the two hours I asked Olivia what she thought of the show.

I took that to mean she liked it.

Our total cost (besides gas for the drive) was a whopping $10 for parking. I even held strong against the many tantalizing vendors parading their wares.

Seven dollars for a bag of popcorn?!Fifteen dollars for a program?!Twenty-two dollars for a stuffed Stitch?!

Seriously, folks. It’s just not necessary. The kids were plenty entertained without all that stuff, anyway.

But Erin, being the high-powered blogger that she is (don’t forget us little people, Erin!) very kindly passed on some of the free stuff that her boys had been given.

Thanks, Erin! We had a great time. But don’t take my word for it; here it is, straight from the horses’ mouths, so to speak. Notice that when Olivia was asked, “What was your favorite part?” She basically said, All of it.

The next day they both asked, “Can we go see Disney on Ice again?”

Per my SOP*, instead of simply saying “No”, I replied, “Wasn’t that great? I’m so glad we got to go see that, aren’t you?”

Olivia sighed. But then she declared, “Someday I’m going to do that.”

That meaning the dancing on ice, wearing a character costume and acting out a musical story.